


Whispered Secrets

by Mellarkablegirltotherescue



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Forced Relationship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 15:12:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8451292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellarkablegirltotherescue/pseuds/Mellarkablegirltotherescue
Summary: Peeta Mellark has been in love with his best friend Katniss Everdeen for an eternity. The only problem, a big fat engagement ring on her finger which is not his . What happens when he finds her in the backroom of his bakery emotionally torn up?.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So here's a new story that I've been working on for a while . Hopefully you will like all the little surprises in there.

  
Peeta’s PoV   
  
“What the hell do you mean you don't know?” She is screeching as I enter the backroom of the bakery. I’m used to her coming in unannounced from time to time, but yelling - especially over the phone - is a sight I haven't witnessed since the our last day of high school when her mother forgot to pick Prim up from a sleepover and Prim was out alone for an entire day. So, I stop in my tracks and look around to see what damage control needs to be done. A carton of six eggs, which was empty, has been torn to shreds and a basket of cheese buns that was full when I left has been completely consumed.   
  
I wait until she is done with her rant to ask what all the ruckus is about. I know she won’t answer until then. As her best friend and the guy (I find it difficult to refer to myself as a man though I’m 21 now) who is irrevocably in love with Katniss Everdeen, I’m something of an authority on the way she works.   
  
Katniss and I are the closest friends ever and share everything with each other. Everything, that is, but our feelings. I stood by and watched as one man after another came and went from her life. At 21, she seemed highly content with the studded ring on her finger and a spring wedding and so I’m completely surprised when she bursts into tears when the phone call is finished. All I can do is stand up from my place at the counter and hug her tightly. I hear her stifling her sobs and sniffing against my t-shirt but I don't pay heed and continue to comfort her.   
  
Katniss’s PoV   
  
I can't help but sob harder when he holds me close and comforts me. I try and fail to imagine a life without him. So in my mind I go back to the fantasy I have built up over the last few years. But I know it's all just a fantasy, a wish of mine that will never come true.   I mourn my lost dreams and release all of my anxiety. It's over, I guess. Finally over. The last year of my life has been absolutely horrendous. On the outside, it may have looked like it was all sunshine and candy but only I know what the year has done to me. When Peeta insists to know what happened, I tell him the truth; the whole truth.   
  
“Peeta, I caught Cato cheating on me.” This statement is enough for his gentle face to turn into a furious storm cloud. He starts to pull away, but I hold him in place. “You need to promise me to calm down and hear me out completely before you react. You will not make any impulsive decisions, okay?” He nods his head subtly in agreement.   
  
So I take a deep breath and release it.  “Peeta, when I met Cato at that business conference two years ago, I repeatedly declined his offer for a date. He pursued me for 6 months until I finally agreed. When he asked me to be his girlfriend a month later, I told him yes on the simple condition that he never expected love from me, as I had already given mine to someone else. The first five months of our relationship were good. We went on dates that didn’t go beyond simple kisses. Everything was fine until he asked me to spend a night. I turned him down outright. He kept asking and I kept refusing till finally he snapped and slapped me in anger. I broke up with him and walked out that day.”   
  


Peeta continues to comfort me but his eyes hold a barely veiled fury. He whispers for me to go on, so I continue. “He came looking for me three days later and I tried to kick him out, but he grabbed my hair and barged into the house.  He threatened Prim and Mom’s lives. It turns out he is the nephew of the gangster Snow and his cousin is Seneca Crane. He explained to me a list of things. First off, I would move into his apartment. Second, I would satisfy each and every one of his sexual needs, no matter how barbaric. Third, I would silently comply with every treatment meted out to me. If I didn't cooperate, I would put my mother and sister’s lives in harm’s way. I tried fighting back but it was useless. So for the last year I was continuously abused, raped and treated like a servant. The engagement was a way of me submitting to him and also he wanted to rub it in my face that I couldn't get the one thing I wanted, marriage to the love of my life.” I look up to see a broken expression on his face.want to go and rip Catos  throat out . How could he even dare to lay a finger on Katniss. I am burning with fury but a small part of me is guilty and beyond doubt ashamed. How could I not have noticed what she had been going through , how had I been so blind to my best friends situation.  I claimed to love her and be her best friend but now I felt like I had let her down . I am even more ashamed that my hurt about her seeing Cato had lead me to ignore her to a certain level which had caused this negligence.   I die a little inside when she admits to have wanted a life with someone, someone she truly loved.   
  
So I gather all my courage and ask. “Who? Who did you want to be with?” It comes out a little shaky, but nevermind. She looks at me with a frightened expression but finally gives in.   
  
“You. it's always been you. I’m sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable but I need to tell you this and I understand that you don’t feel the same way but...” I stop her rant with my lips on hers and sigh when I release her from the kiss. “It’s always been you, Kat. I just thought you didn't feel the same way. I love you to the ends of spaghetti, Miss Everdeen.”    
  
She laughs at this and I feel better for a moment before all she said comes crashing into my mind.   
  
”Kat, I need to know what Cato did, so that you are finally out of this arrangement?“ She goes quiet for a while but then nods as if to encourage herself and then starts talking.   
  
”Cato cheated on me with his ex who is married and on the other side of the country. It turns out she is pregnant. His family strictly believes in monogamous relationships and they disowned him when they found out about this and several other indiscretions. I have been out of that relationship for a month now and slowly everything is going back to normal.“   
  
Suddenly everything makes sense, her sudden relationship, moving in together, the engagement, reducing her trips to meet me, wearing long sleeved shirts when we occasionally met, her fear of people, other that her family and a few close friends. I gather her up in my arms and kiss her with all the gentleness I can muster. She sighs into the kiss and despite the circumstance I lead her into the apartment above the bakery that I now call home.   
  
We undress each other slowly and she is a sight. My beautiful goddess. I make love to her sweetly and as we lie down, completely sated, I run my fingers through her hair. She  falls asleep with a small smile on her face . As she sleeps I count all the bruises and cuts her state of undress has revealed . A new rage bubbles up inside me and I vow to give a fitting reply for each of her wounds, physical and emotional, before I spoon her and go to sleep.   


As the first rays of the sun break through the light curtains on my open window , I stir awake , realising that it is far later than my usual time to wake up. I notice the sleeping form of Katniss next to mine and pull her against my chest and snuggle her to go back to sleep.   
”Kat , why were you yelling on the phone?“ I  mumble, just I'm drifting off to sleep.   
  
”Because Prim couldn’t find the black pearl you gave me for homecoming. I had given it to her before I moved out.“ I nod and then fall back into dreamland.   


* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> How did you like it ? Should I continue? Should I stop here? Feel free to leave your comments, suggestions and kudos.


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